“No, wait, stay. I want to talk more. There are things I need to tell you.”

“I’m sorry, I really have to go. I’m meeting a student in my office. I don’t know how you found me, Dylan, but I’d rather not discuss any of this again. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

She gathered up her laptop and her papers, but I put my hand gently on hers. The hand where I wore my ring. “Meet me tonight,” I said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Please. I want to tell you a story.”

“It’s better if you and I don’t share anything more. We don’t know each other.”

“Karly.”

She stopped. I saw a faint tremble in her whole body. “What is it?”

“Don’t give up on me.”

Her hand covered her mouth. She didn’t say a word. Instead, she stared down at the table and hugged her laptop to her chest.

“Meet me tonight,” I said again.

Without looking up, Karly nodded. “Nine o’clock. Right here.”

Then she hurried away.

After she left, I was flying.

I was so high I couldn’t see any way back down, which is a dangerous thing. The higher you go, the farther you’re likely to fall. Even so, I allowed myself to dream that I could tell Karly the truth, and she might believe me. I began to wonder if she and I could really start over in this world and rebuild what we had. That was the first moment of happiness I’d had since the accident.

Then I went to see Roscoe, and he sent me plummeting back to the ground.

I told him everything that had happened in the past day—including finding the body of his Dylan by the river—and when I was done, he bowed his head in grief. When he finally looked up again, his eyes were as cold as I’d ever seen them. This was not Roscoe the priest. This was Roscoe the friend, and I’d disappointed him.

“I told you that you didn’t belong in this place,” he snapped at me. “I told you to go back home before more people suffered. Now look what you’ve done. Look at the wreckage you’ve already caused.”

“What happened by the river wasn’t my fault,” I protested.

“Is that true? Can I believe anything you tell me? You arrive out of nowhere with this story of parallel worlds, and now you tell me my real friend is dead. Murdered. How do I know that you didn’t decide to do this yourself? Get him out of the way, take over his life, all so you can find a way to be with Karly again.”

I shook my head. “Roscoe, you know me. I would never do anything like that—”